菜根譚

Also known as Vegetable Root Discourse, Musings of a Chinese Vegetarian, Discourses on Vegetable Roots, The Roots of Wisdom, Discourses on a Simple Life, Tending the Roots of Wisdom, Zen of Vegetable Roots, Vegetable Roots Discourse

thumb|Painting in the Hsinchu Tian Hong Temple, featuring a quote from Caigentan. The Caigentan () is a circa 1590 text written by the Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher Hong Zicheng (). This compilation of aphorisms eclectically combines elements from the Three teachings (Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism), and is comparable with Marcus Aurelius' Meditations or La Rochefoucauld's Maximes.